Lightning
by Xekstrin
Summary: So the Storm Hawks have come to accept the fact that a poltergeist who looks eerily like Cyclonis is living among them, but they still have no idea that she and Piper are lovers. Warning: Crack
1. Starts With An S

"The Boring Prologue Nobody Cares About"

"The Lemony Sequel That You Krrraved"

"You Asked For It, You Got It"

"Giggety Giggety Giggety OOH!"

Not sure what these mean, but they were in my notebook so why not. -le sigh- SO yes here is the sequel to my story where Piper falls in love with a crystal-created mind-reading homunculus with Cyclonis's memories. Oh yeah. I went there. And the next chapter is signifigantly longer; I only put this up so the general public could see I was returning to this cracktastic fanon and give me LOTS OF LIFE SUSTAINING REVIEWS before I shift it to the "M" category. I suggest you put this on alert as it won't show up on the main page after this chapter.

Have fun!

"**You're not shy, you get around/ You wanna fly, don't want your feet on the ground/ You stay up, you won't come down/ You wanna live, you wanna move to the sound/ Got fire in your veins/ Burnin hot but you don't feel the pain/ Your desire is insane/ You can't stop until you do it again."**

**- "Urgent" by Foreigner.**

**OoOoOo**

It was a bit like taking your tattooed and pierced boyfriend to meet your parents, who happened to be upstanding citizens like doctors or lawyers and expected their daughter's potential mate to be the same. Only instead of a boyfriend it was a... thingfriend... a thingfriend who looked female but you weren't really sure if they counted as "girl" because that implies a young human female, and you're not sure if your new "friend" can be considered "human" or even "young" since age didn't seem to be a real concept with "her". And instead of your parents, it was your four hefty, male, testosterone-and-attitude-laden squadron with which you shared everything, including one cramped bathroom. (And one weasel-rabbit.)

So I sat, trying to explain my thingfriend to my squadron, and it wasn't going well.

"So she's... she's a ghost?" Aerrow, ever the calm one, is the first to say something intelligent.

I shake my head no, and Lark sits next to me (concentrating hard to stay visible to everyone) with her legs crossed Indian style and her hands on her lap, fighting hard not to laugh. "Piper sort of created me."

"Or she kind of created herself," I muse.

"We're not sure which yet," Lark says, tone helpful.

"But she's here to stay."

"Oh yes. We... we settled the matter quite some time ago."

Aerrow's crimson eyebrows fluctuate, not sure whether to furrow in confusion, raise up in disbelief, or have one of them cock upwards in a silent question. Finally he opens his mouth, attempting to shake off the complexity of communicating without words, and croaks. Then he clears his throat and speaks. "Like... how long ago?"

"Like.. five months ago?"

"Five months and a week ago tomorrow," Lark mumbles, and I'm not sure if it's meant for only me to hear and if it is why didn't she send it mentally? After some experimentation, I'd managed to tap into her mind as easily as she seemed to be able to do with mine, and we could send messages to each other through that. It helped to keep her presence here a secret, not having to talk out loud.

Finn's the next one to ask a question. "And she's been living here this whole time?"

Now Junko. "Is that why my candy bars have been going missing?!"

A rather ashamed Stork. "Uhm, actually, man... that was me."

"...Oh."

I glance over at Lark, my mental waves sending her my sense of exasperation... and yes, maybe just a little bit of amusement. And a good helping of fear. _Should we tell them the __**really**__ mind-screwy part?_ She wants to know, verbalizing her ideas for me. I send her a negation. _One thing at a time._ Her disappointment rolls over me and I tilt to the side, bumping my shoulder against hers playfully and looking at her face, a small smile finding its way to my lips.

It's only then that I realize everyone else is looking at us funny.

Oops.

"Um," I say, dragging myself from the small world of emotion and mental connection that I had established. "Was I out of it for long?"

Finn's eyes are huge. "You were staring at each other for five minutes, dude..."

I flush. "Sorry. It's just, we communicate mentally, and I guess time goes differently in that world..."

Yikes, it's like Stork's worst nightmare. Anything that has to do with his brain sets him on alert. "You _read _each other's _mind_?"

Lark can't help herself. I feel a dark, sultry pulse from her as she says, "Oh, that's not all we do."

Five sets of angry eyes fix on her. Six if you count me.

If you've ever been kicked in the shins, you can imagine how painful it would be when someone taps the part of your brain that receives signals of pain from the nerve endings there. So Lark winces and shuts up while I never even so much as move from my seat.

In the end, they decide to give her a chance, after I reassure them that if she wanted to try and take over the world she'd have gotten to work doing that already instead of becoming my own personal poltergeist. And that, technically, she wasn't even _Cyclonis_. She'd even begun losing her memories of that time, instead forming new ones in this shell she had created… or I had created… well, _something _created her and I call her Lark because, hey, it's not like anyone's using the name…

And, well, I guess weirder things have happened than them learning to accept her…

**OoOoOo**

"Ah-_hem_."

I blink, gummy eyes fluttering to adjust to the filtered golden morning sunlight. Lark's wrapped up in my arms, fast asleep with her head tucked under my chin. The effort of remaining visible to everyone left her drained at the end of most days, so she'd slip into a state of almost hibernation until she had recharged herself, so to speak. Finn stands over me and I shift a little, turning my back on Lark even though he can't see her- hell, for all _he_ knows she's in Starling's room or floating in the ceiling somewhere.

"…Is there a reason you're in my room?" I grumble at him.

He leans forward, hands clasped behind his back. "Actually there is. It's your shift this morning, doofus," he says before a big grin splits his face. "Now, the more important question here is, 'Is there a reason you were cuddling with thin air?'" he leers.

I throw a pillow at him. "Get _out _of here!" and he dances away, giggling with delight. I look down at Lark, still unconscious, and I wonder how long this secrecy can last with everyone knowing about her existence.

**OoOoOo**

Junko flips a pancake onto her plate and she looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't run on calories," she tells him, pushing the plate away. "Thanks anyway."

He tilts his head to the side. "But I see you eating every now and then," he says, adjusting the white cook's hat on top of his head as it begins to slide down from the sweat of working over the hot cooking crystals.

"I was probably bored."

"Well what _do _you run on?"

Voice deadpan. Face straight. "Love and peace."

Finn snorts so loud his orange juice squirts out his nose. Everyone at the table immediately reacts with groans and exclamations of disgust, edging away from the golden puddle spreading across the table. But I'm laughing as well, leaning against Lark and breathless with mirth. After a moment, though, when my eyes aren't teary with giggles, I look up to see Stork staring at me with an expression I'd never seen before. He doesn't even try to look away, or pretend he wasn't staring at me, and his eyes are intense enough so that I'm thankful he doesn't have any mind powers of his own or else he would have burned a hole right through me by now. He was so solemn it sobered me up at once and I anxiously scoot away from Lark, fists bunched up into balls as I stare hard at my plate.

But I can still feel him.

Watching me.

Knowing.

**OoOoOo**

"It's not healthy, you know."

"Yeah, I've already considered that. It's just- it's hard to explain. Trust me though when I say I... I need her."

"I'm just warning you. The psychological repercussions- She's not even _real_, Piper."

"_Stork_."

"She's not a person though… is she?"

"She is, not that you'd believe that. Just please don't tell anyone, all right?"

"…they'll find out eventually."

"I know. ...I know..."


	2. They Start With P and L

**A/N:** Well, I didn't want to freak her out or nothin', what with this being a lemon and all, but I knew she liked the first one so this sequel is sort of dedicated to Suki-has-way-too-many-numbers-in-her-pen-name. (-checks-) 9870. I mean, I know I'm thrilled, having lemons written sortakinda for me, but I think it's been established I'm a huge mondo pervert so I'm not the best standard to judge other people by.

Warning, they do the horizontal tango. And get incredibly mushy. This is 100% fanservice, don't expect anything else that might ever make sense, ever. Porn is hard to write. (-dies-) Especially with poor innocent Piper. I'm never writing a lemon with her again. Maybe never any porn ever. Akdfghsdfghsdkfg.

Enjoy(? Is that the right thing to say for a story like this... well, whatever floats your boat...).

"**Hello little boys, little toys/ We're the dreams you'll believe in/ Crawling up the walls/ Running down your face/ Razor sharp, razor clean/ Feel the weapon's sensation/ On your back.../ With loaded guns/ Now hold on to me pretty baby/ If you wanna fly/ I'm gonna melt the fever, sugar/ Rolling back your eyes./ We're gonna ride the race cars/ We're gonna dance on fire/ We're the girls Le Disko/ Supersonic overdrive."**

**- "Le Disko" by Shiny Toy Guns (the music video is sexy. More videos should have gigantic preying mantises.)**

**OoOoOo**

Bzzzpt. CRACK!

"Aaargh!"

I toss the goggles aside in frustration as the red crystal in front of me implodes and turns into dust. "I just can't figure this out!" Turning a baleful glare at my poltergeist, I wish she weren't asleep right now so that I could ask her for help. Her previous memories of crystals were always useful- those times she could remember them. I felt her previous life turning into fuzz as the experiences and sensations of this world began to take her over. Yet I'd managed to glean a lot from her, and always did so whenever I had the chance.

Letting loose another sigh, I flounce onto the bed myself, the movement causing her to bounce and roll to the side, totally comatose. I prod her playfully in the ribs, trying to get a rise out of her, but it's like lying next to a chunk of stone. "Hey, you," I murmur to her, putting my arms around her chest from behind and pulling her so that her back rested against me. "You're going to develop weird activity patterns if you sleep during the day and rise at night."

And, to my surprise, I feel her stir. "Only you would describe life as an activity pattern," she mumbles, her muscles twitching as she wakes.

I grin. "Ooh, you're awake!" I say, delighted, squeezing her tighter. Now she can help me with this crystal that's giving me such a hard time.

"Yep, fully charged. Cat napping is good."

I try not to agree with her, my nose pressed against the back of her head, inhaling deeply. We lie there for quite some time, and I feel myself getting drowsy. Shaking it off is hard, especially since Lark is like a small portable heater and always just toasty enough to get me relaxed "Mmm, I hate taking naps," I remember and mumble against her, feeling her dry, warm hands clasp over mine to keep them locked around her abdomen. A happy purple spark pops at the physical contact. "It's such a... time... waster."

"What?" she demands, sharply turning her head to look at me over her shoulder. There's a brief moment of awkward shuffling as she turns around in my arms so we could be face to face, and then we have to work to get comfortable again. While that bit of crucial strategic maneuvering is going on she keeps on talking. "Are you insane? Naps are amazing. I'd nap all day if I could- as I was _trying_ to do before you started jumping on the bed and poking me. _Hm_." That final, authoritative note was her as she found my breasts happened to be excellent pillows and made use of them.

That woke me up better than her words did. "Hey!" I protest, heat rushing to my face just as surely as strands of purple electricity jump down my body, spreading from the point of contact. Lark's eyes snap open to follow the trail, face unreadable; I try to ignore it. "Aw, come on," I say, trying to pry her loose. "Get out of bed and do something productive; I promise you'll feel just as good as if you'd taken a time-wasting nap."

As though contemplating the answer itself, a single coil of twitching energy stands in a jagged arc with each of us serving as separate poles of this monochrome rainbow. Lark's answer in the end is to kiss me, and it's a hard argument to counter. Then her hands switch from being locked around me to resting on my hips, fingers starting to curl under the waist band of my pants. "Well, who says..." all of a sudden, she yanks my lower section up against hers. "...staying in bed..." her lips hover in front of mine, and my throat goes dry in expectation. "...is... _unproductive_?"

And a veritable lightning storm explodes across my body.

She laughs, pulling away before I could close the distance between us, eliciting a whine from me. "I love it when that happens," she says with a serene smile, stroking my face before grabbing a bolt of lightning and pulling it towards her chest. She closes her eyes as my energy starts to envelop her too.

God damn it. She is so, so, _evil_. "Oh, shut up," I cry in humiliation, zipping out of the bed and back to my workstation. The stream of energy between us fizzes out. "It's not my fault I've got sensitive skin!" I try to reach for a new crystal but she teleports right in front of me, grabbing me by the wrist of my outstretched hand. Curls of lightning snap between us, buzzing and crackling on her skin as well as mine, only this time she didn't have to draw them from me.

Lark's a bit like a boulder on a hill. Once you get her started on that downward path, you're going to be hard pressed to get her to stop. From figuring out a tricky scientific equation to teeth-clenching, mind-numbing sex (_god, it's been a while since we last had sex..._), it was all or nothing. "I think we both know the lightning doesn't mean you're ticklish, Piper dear." And then she starts to sing. "You're in the _moooood_..."

_Nnnnyyyr-__**zip!zip!**_

The whining tendrils speak for themselves, but Lark just stands there, chin lowered disarmingly, eyes focused on me, waiting for an answer from my own lips. Unwilling to admit defeat, I purse my lips and frown at her. Her eyebrows waggle in response. Just to catch her off guard, I completely relax, tilt my head to the side, and smile at her.

"You know what?" I say. "You're right." Then, before she can respond, I push her against my desk, the acrid, stinging cloud of my burnt-out crystal still in the air. Reversing her grip on my wrist, I grab both her hands and pin them to the top of the desk, now face to grinning face with my poltergeist. "And what are you gonna do about it?" I ask her in a daring whisper, moving forward to pull on her bottom lip with my teeth.

Another loud whine from the lightning sounds; skin fizzing and tingling, I feel her lips catch mine, kissing gently, teasing and suckling. Hotter than usual, her skin warms up even more when I slowly start to kiss down the side of her face to her neck and then back to her mouth again, unable to keep myself from them for long. I try to get inside, flicking my tongue over her lips. A malicious glee lights up inside her as she pulls away, her kisses nothing more than ghosts themselves. I growl, biting again, even sending her a note of my frustration at her lack of response. "Careful, I bite back," is followed by a forceful nip to remind me she wasn't lying.

"Ow!" I jerk my head back, not trying to Gale her anymore.

Smugly grinning, one foot slides up my leg; balancing herself against the desk, she hooks her leg around me, putting us closer to what we both wanted. "Told you."

It's hard to be mad when you're about to have your brain turned into mush, but I make a good effort to at least try. "You didn't have to do it that hard!" I grumble, ignoring the way my heart is pounding, thick and heavy inside my chest, or the way my breath is short from excitement.

I feel her arms tense as she tries to break my grip on her wrists. "The hell I didn't." She starts to wriggle now, her raised foot falling back to the floor for purchase, eyes wide and focused on me with a power-hungry grin. I only hold her down harder, smirking at her, pushing forward with my body until her back is almost resting flat against the table.

"Behave or you don't get anything." _This is so much fun..._

Two echoing, booming pulses sound deep in my skull. _Who says you get to call the shots here?_ And _You're infuriating_. The reverberations catch up with me, growing louder, shaking me from the inside out.

_Now, I'm pretty sure this isn't normal foreplay,_ I muse mentally before unable to keep myself from saying, "But you know, I kind of like it..." Quirking one eyebrow up, I try to do to her what she's always been able to do to me- send sensations. I'd done it before, just never in this way, and I try to remember how it feels when I'm on the receiving end. It's a sharp pulse. I snap at her with my mind, maybe a little harder than I meant to, but judging by the way she suddenly jumps, it worked. I try it again, concentrating hard, focusing the feeling with my eyes as the guide. I glance over her face and neck, her shoulders and chest, not pushing so much as letting the sensation spread out like a pool of warm water, going down her body until _pushing_ again, right between her legs.

_Hey, I'm getting good at this._

A loud "_Oh_" is covered up by my mouth, trying to swallow her whole breathless being into my own. She parts her lips- finally- and I dive in, stroking the inner lining of her mouth with my tongue, probing and curious still even though we've kissed like this before countless times. The quiver of her groaning inside my mouth makes me almost violent, rippling gooseflesh erupting over every inch of my skin as I suck and she pulls and our tongues churn around each other, both of us trying to keep enough control over ourselves to continue stroking each other with our minds, putting ourselves in a frenzy without even having taken off our clothes yet.

_You've got me spoiled with this thing we've got, you know that?_

Yet. As in, not until right now. I let her go to tuck my hands under her shirt, palms spreading wide over the strong, flat smoothness of her belly before reaching up to cup her (admittedly small) breasts. The shirt flies off with ease. If she isn't alive, it's hard to tell by the feel of her, twisting and hot under my hands. Free to roam now, she grabs my by the front of my shirt and pushes me back so that she's standing up straight again before sliding her hands down to work on the buttons to my pants. We desperately try to kill all the space between us, to fill the gap with our bodies and our hands or, failing that, the simple cries and murmurings that escape my mouth. She reverts to transmitting raw emotion through the link we shared, starbursts of exhilaration, glee, and something deep and dark that felt like hunger but was too sharp in all the wrong places. She puts her leg around me again- we stop kissing to look at each other, and the dark feeling spikes when I see the way her heavy eyelids do nothing to pin back the possessive desire, that hunger.

_I want you_ _**now**_.

I hold her leg in place with one hand, pawing at her breast with the other as we grind against each other in mindless need, the kisses getting more and more forceful, my breath going rough around the edges and all the while the lightning storm hovers around us, trembling and shaking and buzzing. The purple light casts shadows over Lark's face and my hands pulling off her shirt, touching her all over.

_Hmm. You're having too much fun._

Until she passes right through my hands like smoke, leaving me bewildered and alone. I almost fall face-first onto the desk, still trying to keep her there, but catch myself on the edge of it before I break anything important (like, say, my face). Then I hear a popping noise behind me and a force tackles me from behind. Pale hands grab mine, tightly holding them to my chest. "Boo," she says, and I swear I can hear the grin in her voice. _Let's see how _**you**_ like being on the bottom. _Soft, gloating laughter and her teeth on the back of my neck, sending prickles all the way down my spine.

" L-Lark." My reaction is a surprise to me as well as to her- I feel the blinking confusion swarm around her as I squirm, stomach twisting._ That felt... weird_.

_Well, it's a..._ maybe not realizing how much it bothered me the first time, or maybe trying to see if the second time is the charm, she plants another kiss on the back of my neck. My happy cloud dissipates as I, startled, try to buck away from her. ..._Sorry, I guess it's a scary place to get touched. _

A wholly unwelcome shudder rolls through me, but she doesn't let me go, instead tilting her head to kiss the side and base of my neck, then running her tongue all the way up to the shell of my right ear, nipping just hard enough to restart the momentum after that awkward moment. "Sorry," she whispers again, out loud for extra emphasis, gently rocking me from side to side. All of a sudden I feel like the guilty one, for not trusting her enough to feel comfortable with her touching the most vulnerable spot on my body. And of course she feels my guilt and lets me go so I can turn around and make a face at her.

"Hey, it's just an instinct or something," I reassure her, reaching forward to dig my hands deep into her back pockets, pulling her towards me again. "I trust you."

She locks her arms around my neck. _You trust me, _she sends with a vague sense of amusement. She's still got the vestiges of a smile, but it drains away bit by bit until, for some reason, she seems to be the vulnerable one. She steps forward, touching my face with one hand and seeking my eyes with hers, sudden doubt swimming in them.

_Do you love me?_

The shock hits me, a rolling sensation like the swing-the-hammer games on Terra Neon. It starts in my belly and crashes up into my cranium, leaving me dazed. I'm unable to say anything- unable to fathom why she would choose now to say this, when we'd had sex before without bringing it up- unable to shake the feeling of _holy shit, this is the first time she's-_

I kiss her again, a more tender kiss, letting all my warm, quiet devotion spread over her like a wave. Her hand moves from my cheek to run through my hair, a plaintive, helpless noise escaping her with the sudden mutual realization between us of how deep our affection had grown... and more importantly the fact that this _totally_ meant she had gone soft. Her self-awareness burns and she pulls free to bump her forehead against my shoulder. _Ugh, I hate myself right now. _

That startles a chuckle out of me. Then I pull my lips free to rest my forehead against hers, my arms around her waist, hers around my shoulders, and we gently sway together as though we are dancing. "I love you," I whisper out loud, closing my eyes.

Lark suddenly stops and stumbles backwards, putting her hands at her throat and pretending to choke. "_Hurf_."

I stomp one foot, glaring at her. "Oh, very mature."

"Indeed I am." She crosses her arms, a slew of emotions combating inside her for dominance. Anger always tried to mask everything else like a thick red fog, but I wasn't so stupid as to not see right through her little facade. She was embarrassed at herself for the display of weakness. "Still. I completely ruined the mood with that and you made it worse!" she accuses me. "Don't you know when I start mooning like a silly bitch you're supposed to slap me?"

"Oh, so we're starting a BDSM routine now?"

I was only joking, but she seems to take it seriously. She glances away, disgruntled. "No, no," she says, waving the thought away. "I don't see the appeal of hurting anybody, anymore..."

I can only shake my head, amazed. Then I step forward, grabbing her arms and settling them around me again, complaining, "You're too far away," before firmly trapping her mouth with mine. Her eyes close, but I (creepy as this may sound) keep mine open just a slit, just to see her smooth white face. Then a shocking purple jolt hits me right behind my eyes, squeezing a sharp exhale from me. We're at it again, pushing and stroking, building up quickly to where we had left off, and I try to push her down onto the chair in front of the desk but before I know it the ground had slipped from under me. I'm horizontal, then poomf, I land... right onto the cushy springs of my bed. She had teleported us somehow, with me winding up under her again.

_Oh, you're just plain being devious now._

_I've been dying to try that out,_ she confesses, helping me pull my shirt off over my head, resting her hand on the bare skin of my collarbone, fingers brushing over my cheek before settling in my hair again, stroking it gently. She pulls it free from my head band, laughing at the amount of gel I use and mussing it up now, much to my chagrin. I hold up my arms, trying to stop her, and wrap my legs around hers, catching her off guard and flipping us over. Somehow we get caught up in that, wrestling for dominance, shushing each other at a sudden shriek of laughter (even though the others would only be likely to hear me), and pausing every so often just to kiss. The clothes start to fly, and I think, _This is how it should be._

This is, after all, only the third time we'd done this. The first one was tense experimentation, layered with fear and excitement in equal doses. The second time had been so... _real_. Good, but different than the first time which had been mainly mental. I paid attention to every detail then, unable to stop myself from being a scientist- is she corporeal? Is this sweat on my hands, on my tongue, or something she's putting in my head to make her feel the way humans are supposed to feel? And, of course, there was a sort of absurdity to it I couldn't shake off- all this groping and grabbing, touches and kisses- all of it the action without the result, the fact that this sexual feeling was supposed to be accompanied by pregnancy, planted seeds and meaning- and here we were, two creatures at play.

And then there's now. All of that ran through my head in just the second it took me to relax, go limp in her arms and just look in her eyes as the pressure builds inside us both, ready to pop. I feel her hand on my outer thigh, tracing circles with one finger, scooting closer as we lie side-by-side, facing each other. I hold her face up against mine, and we start to kiss again even as I feel her hand creep under the fabric of my underwear. _Ooh, you shaved,_ she notes with a grin, leaning forward to nip my ear.

I felt the need to defend myself- _well it wasn't like I was planning this or anyth_- but I stop completely when I feel her slip through the outer lips, stroking me on the inside. No matter how much she toys around with my mind and my nerves, nothing is as so stimulating as the real thing. My hips jerk forward; her tongue slides over the shell of my ear. "I can go further, if you want..." she says out loud, breath warm, one single finger tracing back and forth, slow and... and _hot, _there was no other word for it. It wasn't teasing, just steadily erotic with the promise of more. I remember she wants an answer and manage to choke out, "Y-yes."

" Well, if you're _sure_..." she says with a grin, I retort with a strong pulse of pleasure in her direction, causing her to jump a little from the force of it. I shift while she's surprised, moving so that I was on top of her, holding her hand and guiding it, stroking harder against the wet outer walls. I can't keep myself from moaning, not even with my teeth clenched. Rolling over again, stands of thick black hair tickle my face as takes her hand away, a thick trail of my own wetness stretching between her fingers and me. She tries to see how far it'll stretch, dry amusement written all over her thoughts. When it snaps she goes back for more, digging deep into me, rubbing me on the hot, pulsing center between my legs, penetrating me, exploring deep inside while I arch my hips upward in tandem with her movements, churning tongue and nibbling teeth over her sensitive neck, my hands running over her shoulders to stroke her back, palm her butt gently before giving it a good squeeze and making her laugh.

Sitting up, she reaches behind her for my hands and runs them over her breasts, feeling her nipples erect and dry, over the soft skin of her belly, to spread lower lower lips and caress her. A lengthy, content sigh escapes her, her body bobbing up and down on top of me. Like static electricity, the lightning snaps between us, sending bursts of pleasure each time. I lift one leg around her, my hands smoothing over her thighs as I press my lower section against hers, rubbing our clits together in need.

It's an empowering sensation to know exactly how close your partner is to climaxing. And when we move together, the barriers between our minds start to meld and I feel what she feels as surely as if it were happening to me, so that it start to not matter who's touching who. Either way, it's a bit like jumping off a cliff. There's never a fluid transition- at least, not in the few times I've experienced it, I've heard it's sorta different to different people. But there _is_ an edge for me and her, and it's _sharp_. And unmistakable- like the precipice of a rocky outcropping. Rather than falling down she rises up; fear is replaced with groaning desire.

Ah, yeah. I love this, yanking her away from the cliff edge last minute, just as she was there, windmilling her arms for balance, unable to actually take a leap there, unsure if that would produce the same effect. I bite down on her shoulder, telling her silently to stop and wait a moment. And for a moment, she doesn't. She wants to keep going, _knowing_ it was right there for her to reach. I wait for her to come back to me and attempt to still her breathing, kissing the bruise I had left on her skin.

But it doesn't take long for me to start again, and this time we don't stop. Maybe I could have let her dangle there a few more times, but I'm not so sure I can keep myself from falling as well, and I want to see her come before me. I lift my finger to her mouth, coated in her scent and wetness, let her bite it as hard as she likes. Her hips arching up and her body twisting every which way, a few moments of ecstasy so intense she couldn't take in enough air to make noise. Just watching her sends me tumbling down that edge after her, smoothing the ride along with my own fingers, trying to coax it out so that it can last longer.

Finally I lie with my head resting on her stomach, softly tracing the inside of her thigh and in between her legs, feeling the twitching heat soften to a contended rumble deep inside us.

I don't want to talk just yet, but she murmurs, "...You know, we should try and find out how to do that multiple orgasm thing..."

I quirk my eyebrow up.

"What? If you got it, use it."

"I read it's kinda difficult."

"Can't be that difficult." Ghostly fingers reach inside my mind, swimming through the aisles and rows of information I keep stored away. The sex stupor doesn't fade so much as condense and quicken as she reaches deeper, her interest piqued by what she finds. "Well that doesn't sound difficult at _all_.." she lets the last syllable trail off suggestively, sliding my head off her belly and getting on top of me, her teeth making their way along my jawline to the lobe of my ear.

I sigh, giggle, my movements still a little languid as I run my hands over her hips and back. "Already up for round two?"

"Piper, that's a stupid question."

Grabbing her by the wrists, I sit up straight, leaning into her with what I hope is a sultry smirk. "Well then maybe we should stop talking."

Her excitement spikes.

"Just try to keep up with me," I say around her lips, which are already greedily sucking on mine. Pushing me back down onto the mattress, I can tell she wants to keep me there, her grip strong and demanding that I give in.

Well, if she thinks I'm going down without a fight, she's got another thing coming...


	3. Starts With An F

**A/N: Updated because I can, and I totally will.**

**OoOoOo**

Steam gathered in the engine room, adding to the already-sweltering heat of the place. Not that Lark or Piper minded- they were too busy making out to really care. Plus, Lark enjoyed the way it felt to be almost human and sweating; she drank water just to keep enough moisture in her body in case she needed it to create...

...things.

Piper exhaled around Lark's lips, sighing softly with her hand tangled up in the poltergeist's thick black locks. "We need to go somewhere else for this," she murmured even as she pushed Lark up against the wall.

_Yeah, you're right..._ Lark sent back, arms around Piper's waist, squeezing her round, perky bottom.

"Like, my room..."

_Or the utility closet..._

"...Or the kitchen table..."

That surprised a loud laugh out of Lark, enough to cause her to pull away and just try to get enough air to laugh. Not that she needed air. It's just, she couldn't make natural sounds without expelling air. She could quiver mentally though, the bright bubble of joy rippling inside her.

Still, nothing quite compared to a good loud laugh.

Except kissing some more. And hearing Piper speak into her ear, the vibrations sending shivers all down this fake crystal-created body she possessed. Which actually led her to what seemed like a pretty good idea. "And, you know, I think there's some strawberries left in the fridge..." She trailed off teasingly, waiting for Piper to up the ante by something even kinkier.

Instead, however, Piper grimaced and said, "Ugh!"

Lark felt the attraction take a nose dive, fall back, come to a screeching, screaming halt complete with the sound effects of squealing tires in her mind and automobiles crashing. She held Piper at arm's length, deeply offended, repeating, "Ugh?"

"Umm.."

"You know what, never mind." Lark shook her head, half-laughing again. "I'm just going to be nice and assume that "ugh" was a sound you made out of pure erotic ecstasy."

"No, that came out wrong-"

Lark's eyebrows shot up. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked, voice sounding almost innocent. "Wrong? How could it come out wrong? You couldn't contain yourself. You _needed _to say it. You were just. That. _Hot_."

"It's just, I don't like strawberries!"

"Oh, duh." She couldn't believe she'd forgotten that- but then, it had been the heat of the moment. Still, now they were presented with a problem that needed to be fixed. Lark had to consider this serious matter for a good five seconds before coming to a solution. "There's pineapple, too."

Piper's hands rested on Lark's shoulders, the other girl locking her arms around her waist and pulling her closer. "I like pineapple."

"I know you do." One hand slid up the back of Piper's shirt, gently tracing lines and patterns across the smooth chocolate surface.

"Pineapple is good."

"Mm-hmm."

They got caught up in another long, lingering kiss, slow and deep, pressing for more, before Lark popped out of existence- probably already teleported into Piper's room- and Piper left separately to go tell Aerrow they'd finished all the minor repairs to the engine room that Junko wasn't able to fix (the wallop had a cold and had been in bed all day).

And Finn waited until the girls were gone before repeatedly banging his head against the engine room wall, wishing he'd thought of a better place- _any _other place- to hide his chocolate chip cookies.


	4. Sneaky Sneaky

**A/N: So I swore off Piper porn. Not! Also, Piper's pants confuse me. Are they pants with a skirt-y kind of design or is it a skirt with leggings? :/ I'm also convinced that I've turned Lark into a lesbian Edward Cullen in this story, and that doesn't bother me as much as it should.**

**Anyway, lol!closet. Extended metaphors are fun.**

**OoOoOo**

It was so sudden she didn't have time to prepare. Piper was walking down the hallway, and in the interval of milliseconds between the time she lifted her foot and just before it fell down, Lark had popped up in front of her. The ghost had a finger pressed against her pale pink lips but soon abandoned that to yank Piper close to her, arms around the navigator's waist, smiling thinly.

Poof, they were gone again.

Just like that.

They landed in darkness, Piper's shin banging against something hard and unyielding. She gave a yelp, trying to shuffle away only to be met by the solid wall of the utility closet. She stepped forward again, hands out in front of her, groping in the cramped space for the door handle and kept on finding Lark's body instead- or brooms, or a towel hanging from a rack on the ceiling. "Lark, what on Atmos-"

Something warm bumped into her from behind, two hands on her shoulders, at first seeming to guide her until Piper realized she was just being pushed against the wall again- face first. "Wh- Lmm- _mmph_!"

_Shh, shh, shh, shh._

A hand clasped over her mouth, a mouth next to her ear, repeating the same shushing noise physically as with her mind. Lark put her other arm around Piper's shoulders, restraining the girl from moving too much.

_They'll hear us._

And then Piper noticed the footfalls just outside the doorway, growing closer, passing, and then fading away. She could feel Lark's mouth against the back of her neck, grinning widely, and wriggled for freedom at the unwelcome sensation. _Cut it out!_ she snapped.

_Piper, if we're going to do this... _The hand over her mouth loosened, and fingers trailed over Piper's lips as Lark slowly began to kiss along Piper's neck. It provoked an uncertain noise, somewhere on the precipice of soft delight and trepidation, a sigh and a pout._ ...you need to be quiet_.

Lark felt a sense of sharp, dark glee by choosing that moment- when she said _quiet_- to send a starburst of pleasure running throughout Piper's system, causing the dark-skinned girl to whimper deep in her throat. Her lips parted, kissed the edge of the fingertip pressed against her mouth. Only... _Are you crazy?_ She stiffened again, eyes on the door, realizing anyone could walk in on them. Even if Lark was invisible it would be hard to explain what she was doing in here.

_Hey, hey. Relax. The door is locked._

_But they-_ An even stronger wave of pleasure hit her. Her head snapped forward against the wall again, her teeth finding her lower lip, sliding her body against Lark's, ignoring the clothes as the other girl pressed close against her, hot breath on the base of her neck. Piper retaliated almost on instinct, trying to outmatch Lark by pushing the same sensation back on her. In a moment of complete connection she even felt it the way Lark did- and gooseflesh erupted all over her skin, and her nipples went erect so fast it was almost painful.

Lark let out a low, satisfied chuckle, pulling at the fastens to Piper's pants. "Now that's more like it," she said, hardly able to push out enough air to say the words, so excited she forgot to breathe. Piper tried to turn around only to have Lark firmly press her against the wall again, biting her bare shoulder just hard enough to be uncomfortable then licking it, one rough swipe of the tongue to take away the sting. The tip of her tongue kept on, traveling up the side of her neck to end with a final nip on Piper's earlobe.

Her hands were gentle, but they dragged without hesitation straight back to Piper's pants again, massaging wide circles through the fabric. Low, rippling- everything about her mind was focused yet drifting, hazy but sharp. A mumble in her ear, heavy. "Mmm, just... stay still... while I get you off, OK?"

Another hand went up her shirt, brushing over her breasts before moving back down to wrap around her stomach, holding the other girl tightly. But just as soon as she started she had to stop, when Piper tried to reach behind her back. "Ah, ah, ah, ah," she said quickly, struggling with Piper, holding her by her wrists, shuffling awkwardly in the cramped space. She doubled the mental pressure, seeing she wasn't going to get far with just her hands alone, and Piper's struggles grew half-hearted and eventually ceased and shifted into squirming, writhing motions of pleasure. "Atmos, you're persistent," Lark said. "What did I tell you about moving? Do I have to elaborate on what that means?"

_I'm not _asking _you to elaborate._ Piper twisted to look at Lark over her shoulder, and even though it was pitch black that didn't stop Lark from being able to see the way one golden eye glittered with something dangerously close to anger. _You're just not letting me do anything._ She didn't like being told what to do- and she didn't like not being in control- but what Lark was doing was harmless, if infuriating, and Piper couldn't be sure if using Sky Fu to break free wouldn't be an overreaction. In response to all this quiet fuming Lark blew a raspberry against Piper's cheek, surprising a quick shriek of laughter out of the other girl.

Piper composed herself, mortified. _Stop that!_

_Oh, you know you love it. And here..._ one hand guided Piper's down past the waistband of her pants and underwear, fingering her gently. "Now you're doing something," she said, smirking when Piper held her hand, moving it around the way she wanted with a contented sigh. They moved together in almost silence, Piper trying to keep her breathing under control and Lark forgoing breathing altogether. Something cold touched Piper's shoulder and she jumped before realizing it was Lark's hand- Lark's hand holding the key to the utility closet, slowly warming up again from Piper's body heat. Unaware that she was still tense until she finally relax, Piper began to enjoy herself, now that she was assured there would be no interruptions. But still, in the cramped, sweltering-from-the-body-heat space, knowing that the door was literally right there and this was about as public a place to be doing this sort of thing as anyplace else, Piper came quicker than she ever had- and harder, too. Her knees almost gave underneath her. Lark had to catch her and hold her steady, only to then flip her around- _oh god, finally-_ and Piper grabbed her by the front of her shirt, pulling the other girl towards her to viciously suck and chew on her lips.

_Whoa, angry._

There was a loud clatter as somebody accidentally flipped over one of the buckets- probably Piper, her hands free now to reverse their positions and push Lark so that the poltergeist's back was to the wall. Somehow, her shirt was halfway over her head, her bra undone._ We are never doing this again, do you hear me?_

It was hard for Lark to imagine following an order like that, especially seeing the way Piper had completely went over the deep edge the moment she was free. Dark hands took no care being gentle, pulling and demanding, and Lark had to stop her, laughing softly, saying, "Piper- Piper, wait- wait a second. Please?"

That word was not often heard between the two. Piper found the time to touch the crystal around her neck, adding just enough illumination to the scene to see Lark grinning wolfishly at her.

Piper was instantly suspicious._ What?_

_I didn't lock the door._

There was a snap- Lark popped out of Piper's hands to appear right next to the door, letting the lock click shut.

"OK," she said. "Now. Where were we?"


	5. Unused Matter

**A/N: Z?**

**Because Hermonthis requested it, and I felt like obliging. In a roundabout way.**

**Stupid chapter is stupid. And no, I can't write PWP. God damn it, I need a long-winded **_**reason**_**. Even if it's a crack reason. Don't ask me why. One of these days I hope to be an awesome writer who can just sit down and say, "I'm gonna write this" and then sit down and **_**do it**_**.**

**Part One of maybe three? A mini arc! Oh my!**

**OoOoOo**

Aerrow wriggled under his Skimmer, covered in grease as he tried to figure out what was wrong with it this time. True, she was still flying like a dream, but she made this weird buzzy sound whenever he cut the power, and anything out of the ordinary with his Skimmer made him worried. He was fussy that way- the whole _Condor_ could be a mess and he wouldn't blink twice, but if his Skimmer made a funny sound he just couldn't sleep.

There was a soft pop nearby, announcing the arrival of Lark. "Need help?" she offered.

He decided he didn't want to know how long she had been there, and assumed she had just popped in from somewhere else instead of being invisible. It creeped him out to no end, but there really wasn't much he could do about it. "Ah, yeah, sure. Can you pass me the-?"

_Pop. Pop._

She left before he could finish, reappearing at his right side with the wrench in hand. "Thanks." He took it and began to work again.

_Pop. Pop. _

She appeared, crouching next to him, but on his left now instead of his right. "So whatcha doin'?"

"Killing time," he grunted in response, tearing open the belly of the bird.

_Pop. Pop._

He wondered where she was for a moment before realizing she was floating above the Skimmer now. Sighing, he put the wrench down and quirked one eyebrow up at her. "You're bored, aren't you."

"Incredibly so."

"Now I get why Stork kicked you out of the kitchen this morning."

"What? No one put a label on those sand cakes saying Property Of Stork."

"Well, you didn't need to eat them all."

"Stork also doesn't need to eat them. They're sweets. They're eaten for enjoyment."

"Touche." Aerrow waved the wrench at her. "Still, you're just in a mood for trouble today, aren't you? I can tell. Try to be serious, Lark, eating all those cakes was just plain mean."

"Serious?" She blinked. "I can be serious. Watch."

Poof!

Coughing in the smoke that lingered behind her, Aerrow got out from under the Skimmer to pound at his chest and clear his stinging eyes. When the smoke cleared Lark was there again, only in thick, black sunglasses and a sharp suit-and-tie ensemble. She put on a stoic face, straightening her tie before crossing her arms. "Serious Lark reporting for duty, Captain."

Aerrow blinked in shock once or twice before he started laughing.

"I can see my Serious is not contagious," she noted. "Do I not look Serious enough, Captain? Shall I also be Professional and add a Storm Hawks logo somewhere on here?"

Aerrow could barely get the words out. "What the hell are you wearing!"

"A suit. 'Cause suits are Serious."

The sky knight was spared having to find some sort of reply to that, because the automatic doors swung open, revealing Piper with an armful of Skimmer schematics. "I hope these'll help, Aerrow, I-"

She paused in the doorway, staring at Lark. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"A suit," Lark repeated, pulling at the lapels in a model's pose. A male model's pose. "'Cause suits are-"

"-Serious," Aerrow finished.

"Seriously weird," Piper said.

"Seriously Serious."

"Can we stop saying Serious?" Aerrow asked.

Lark ignored him. "You know, if you keep saying Serious enough it starts to sound weird. It's even spelled weird. Serious. Serious. S-E-R-I-"

Piper rolled up one of the schematics, whacking it over Lark's head. "You're bored," she accused the girl.

Lark didn't change her expression, just rolled her shoulders and looked away, as though the open window held something fascinating only she could see. "Seriously bored."

Piper, seeing that she was getting no reaction, huffed and dumped the schematics onto the floor before joining them, spreading them open to try and see if she couldn't help Aerrow with his Skimmer problem. "Then go do something."

_Pop. Pop._

Lark was on her belly next to Piper, chin in her hands as she examined the schematics as well. "I'd rather stay here," she said, pulling off her sunglasses and sliding them onto Piper's face. She imitated Finn's chicka-cha movement with one hand, signaling her approval of Piper wearing the Serious glasses. "Nice. You should keep them."

Aerrow sat down opposite them. "Where'd they come from, anyway?"

"I made them."

He pondered this. "Could you make a new Skimmer?"

"Nope. I can't make anything bigger than myself, or anything organic unless it's directly related to me, like making my hair red or something- trust me, I've tried."

Piper was surprised by this. "You can change your appearance that much?" she asked, taking off the glasses to look at Lark.

"Of course I can." Lark smirked. "I can even make myself a man. Not a very tall man, but-"

"I wanna see!" Piper and Aerrow chorused, eyes wide and shocked.

Lark grinned.

_Poof_!

And then she was he. Sort of. Piper was a little disappointed, truth be told, to only find a very slender boy in front of her. The suit helped, since the build of it made his shoulders a little broader, but not much. Reading her thoughts, Lark sent, _Hey, I'm a boy where it counts._

_Ew. I didn't need to know that._

"I only have so much mass to work with here," Lark defended out loud, mouth twisting in a frown. "I can't create muscle and bone out of nothing, you know."

"It's OK if you're a shrimpy boy, Lark," Piper teased, nudging the newly-formed boy with her toe.

"Yeah, we won't judge you." Aerrow paused. "...Out loud."

They started giggling. Or, Piper giggled. If there was a manlier word for giggling I'm sure that's what Aerrow was doing.

**OoOoOo**

Every now and then Lark liked to leave the _Condor_ with little or no notice. Piper didn't mind; her connection with Lark meant she knew where her poltergeist was at all times, if she just spent a moment of her time to concentrate. But when she tried to pry where Lark was this time, she was met with a solid blank wall and something that might just have been prerecorded, it felt that fake- a sense of "sorry, not here right now, please leave a message!"

_What are you up to? _She sent, thinking Lark wouldn't reply.

But reply Lark did. _Serious business,_ she sent back, but would say no more.

**OoOoOo**

Piper forgot about the gender-bending incident, which was, of course, a mistake. She found this out the hard way upon hearing an all-too-familiar poof! In the corner of the training room on board the _Condor_ only to find a young man standing there in a flashy white suit and matching fedora, reclining casually against the wall.

Piper froze.

"Hi," Man-Lark said with a shy smile.

No matter how hard she stared, Lark didn't grow any shorter, or any less male. This was different from before, when he had just made a few cosmetic changes. This was for all intents and purposes a brand new person, one who only shared the vaguest resembalence to Lark. He was much taller, more built, more obviously a young man and not a shrimpy boy. "You didn't," Piper said, unconsciously taking a step forward, rubbing at her eyes, wondering if she was hallucinating this. She knew- of course she knew, she couldn't look at Lark without feeling the connection they shared- that this was of course real, but still. Some part of her really hoped it wasn't. "You did _not_."

"I did," Lark said, smile growing wider and more assured now that s/he had gotten the proper reaction out of the navigator. S/He stepped forward, shrugging as s/he spoke. "What can I say? You insulted my shapeshifting abilities when you said I was a shrimpy guy."

S/he had reached Piper now. Piper took a step back, waving her hand in front of Lark's face. Lark caught it, frowning and saying, "I'm a dude, not blind. So! What do you think?" Letting her go, Lark did a quick spin for Piper to see the poltergeist from every angle. "Am I not the most fantastically wonderful male specimen you've ever clapped eyes on?"

Piper covered her face with her hands, groaning out loud. "Lark. Please change back."

"Why?"

"You're freaking me out, that's why!"

Lark was curious now, leaning closer to Piper and touching her face. "But aren't you bisexual?" he asked, grinning widely when Piper shrank away from her touch, a purple electricity storm igniting all over her body. "...Oh my. That's exactly the problem, isn't it?"

Piper shook her head but still wouldn't take her hands away from her eyes. _I fell for you when you had boobs._

_Well, I'm still me, aren't I? Am I so repulsive now because I look like this?_ Feeling a little sadistic, and actually insulted now at Piper's reaction, he forced her to look at him, exerting his willpower over her brain.

The reaction was nothing like Lark expected. Piper uncovered her eyes only to forcibly shove Lark backwards with both hands, so sharp and so sudden it hurt. "Don't try to guilt trip me!" she snapped at him, straightening up to her full unimpressive height to glare him in his livid purple eyes. "This _bothers_ me, OK? And I don't need a reason for it to bother me, it just _does_. So knock it _off_."

Feeling the swell of all the other things she wanted to shout rise deep in her chest, Piper could only take one long, angry breath and then whirl around, stomping away before she did anything else she might regret.


	6. Epic Failure At Sex So Here's Some Fluff

"**Who said masochist?/ Nothing with a closed fist/ Just a little damage with the tongue/ Kinky little dark side/ Play a little hard to like/ Just try to have a little fun/ Stickin' it in stickin' it out Mother Fucker/ Are you shittin' in your own back yard/Why do I like it so hard?"**

"**Beautiful When You're Mad" by Out Of Your Mouth.**

**OoOoOo**

_Ok, no more suit._

There was a whirl of shifting colors around him until he was wearing the traditional blue Storm Hawks uniform- similar to Aerrow's but built to fit Lark's broader chest. He had gone all out when he made himself male. After all, if you were going to gender bend, wouldn't you want to be an attractive example of the other gender? It was pure escapism, not that Lark had any problems with how he looked physically while female. He was just narcissistic that way.

The only thing that kept the same was the straight black hair reaching just past his shoulders. He tried the original style only to find it looked gay on a boy and settled for parting it down the middle, letting it fall naturally. Of course a real boy wouldn't put this much effort into hair alone, but...

_Poof_.

They were all too used to his sudden appearances. Not even Stork flinched, and everyone else just continued eating breakfast and drinking coffee, mumbling "goomornin" to him without blinking their gummy eyes.

He cleared his throat, and said, "Hi."

Jumping at the unfamiliar male voice, Aerrow got to his feet and started to pull out his weapon before stammering. "Whoa- who- who are y-"

_Shwing TACK t-t-t-ng_. Lark only moved his eyes to look at the crossbow bolt quivering in the metal wall next to his head. Finn stood at the ready, alert and focused as Junko and Aerrow powered up their weapons and Stork shrieked and hid under the table.

Piper chose that moment to walk in, a towel over her shoulder and her hair wet from a shower. She walked past Lark without looking at her, mumbling, "Oh, get over it you guys. It's just Lark." and then sitting down and pouring herself a cup of coffee, strong and black, and waited for everything to resolve itself.

**OoOoOo**

Finn waved his armed over his head. "Dude! You're a dude!"

Lark beamed, a big shit-eating grin spread over his face as Junko served him some eggs and bacon. "You gonna eat this morning?" the wallop wanted to know, because Lark didn't always indulge in eating.

"Naturally," he said, twirling a fork in one hand. "I have to maintain a certain protein level to keep this body mass at this size and form. The other form is easy to keep with minimal energy input because its the way I'm supposed to look." Aerrow wouldn't stop staring at him. Stork had moved from hiding under the table to perching just on top of the sink faucet, precariously balanced with his yellow amphibian eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Um," Junko said, scraping the last of the eggs onto Lark's plate. "Right. Uh, that's cool."

"It means I have to keep myself fueled," Lark explained. "Like a skimmer can't run at full capacity without crystals, I can't keep my body looking all pretty and manly like this without fuel. Carbs. Protein. Cholesterol. Vitamins and stuff. Everything a body needs. You get me?"

Junko made a long noise of understanding and sat down for a third helping of his own breakfast.

Seeing that Piper looked as happy as a wet cat, Finn did what he was best at and made her angrier. "Looks like you're the only girl on the ship again," he cracked, already getting over his shock because it meant extra rib-poking for Piper.

Piper seriously contemplated cracking her coffee mug over his head.

Lark sighed, sitting back in his chair. "I don't know," he said. "I still feel like a girl on the inside."

Stork snorted from his vantage point. "Heh, eyeah, I can tell by the way you're sitting."

Lark looked down to see that he was sitting rather femininely, with one leg crossed over the other. "Uh, I'm a gay guy?" he said. Then an idea hit him. Lowering his eyelids and leaning forward, he formed a steeple on the surface of the table. "And may I comment on just how _fabulous _you look this morning, Finland?" He said, speaking with a pronounced lisp.

Finn turned bright red as everyone around the table laughed. "Uh oh, someone's got a secret admirer," Aerrow said, nudging Finn.

"Yeah, right," Finn muttered, looking down at his plate of eggs like his life depended on it. So flustered his brain stopped working, he forgot himself and added. "If she likes _anyone _on board, it sure as hell ain't me."

Piper felt a twinge of alarm but Lark didn't seem too bothered. Instead he poofed right onto Finn's lap, his arms around the boy's neck. "Oh Finn, don't be that way," he purred, kissing Finn's forhead. Finn screamed and flailed, knocking his chair and his plate over while Lark just popped away to float just above him, safe from the egg juices and bacon bits flying all over.

"I like guy Lark," Junko commented to Stork with a smile.

**OoOoOo**

Stork lifted the lid on one of the crates in the hanger, mumbling to himself as he and Piper searched for the maps of the area. They rarely came by this place, and Piper wanted to see if everything was up to date on all their charts. When they found the right one, he helped Piper haul it down the hallways towards the bridge, shuffling forward awkwardly under the uncomfortable weight. As they made their way down the ship, Finn ran past them headed towards the opposite direction, squealing, "_Stay away from me-e-e!_"

They both paused, and a few moments later Man-Clonis literally flew down the hallway after Finn. "Finny-y-y!" He called out. "Oh FI-INLA-AND! Come back here!" and disappeared as well.

Stork licked his dry lips, silence stuck in his throat as his yellow eyes glanced from the direction the two had gone and back to Piper again. Shrugging, Piper said, "He's having fun."

Stork grunted and they kept on moving the crate. "Ahuh. So. Is there a reason she-?"

"No."

"She just wanted to-?"

"Yeah," Piper said, tone clipped.

"You don't seem very-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

That was signal for Stork to stop talking too, but he had to know. He cared about Piper in his own way- not exactly as a sister, or even a friend. Younger than him by several years, he had come to think of himself as something of a guardian to the other Storm Hawks (and the _Condor_). Or at the very least the voice of reason, and a warning against the dangers of the world that they were obviously too young and inexperienced to know about, like Spiny Gorge Sloths. So he said, "Is she doing this so you can finally tell Aerrow about your relationship with her?"

Piper bristled. "She's not."

"Because, you know, I think it's about time to tell him. He's probably already guessed _something_."

They walked in silence.

"Lark can't change back into a girl yet," Piper finally muttered. "Such a drastic change is going to take more time to reverse."

"Uh. Oh. I see. And-"

"-When she's back to the way- when she wants to change back- _if_ she changes back-"

His ears flickered upwards in alarm. "Oh come on, she's not seriously trying to be a dude for permanent, is she?"

"I don't know, Stork."

"Did she say she was?"

No. But Piper was feeling insecure anyway. "When and if she changes back, I'll tell Aerrow."

That was when they reached the bridge, and the conversation was over by default.

**OoOoOo**

Lark spun in his chair, looking up at the ceiling for inspiration. He needed Piper's help, but didn't want to even consider starting any drama, so the crystal on Piper's desk remained unrefined and in fact a mystery, since he couldn't for the life of him break it down to see what it was or what it did.

_Aw, man..._

He pouted in his seat, crossing his arms and using his long legs to continue propelling himself in circles. However, his self control was slight, if not nonexistent, so he soon found himself sending, _Piper_?

And a surprisingly easy response. _Yes, Lark?_

_I need your help with-_ and he sent a summary of everything, all the tests and the frustration of a Rubik's Cube left unsolved, in a single thought. _This_.

_Be right there._

Huh.

Lark swiveled until Piper arrived, thinking hard. When she showed up she went straight to the desk, holding the crystal up to the light to see it better. "Is this what's giving you a hard time?" she wanted to know.

Sort of wary, Lark mumbled, "Uh-huh."

Piper laughed before setting the crystal back down, eyes closed. "Well I have to say I'm surprised you couldn't figure it out. You're reading too deep into it, Lark- the solution's really simple."

Lark stopped spinning. "It is?"

"Mm-hmm." Piper pulled up another stool and sat down to explain it to Lark, step by step. When she was finished they sat in silence, not exactly uncomfortable, but definitely tense.

_Piper,_ Lark finally sent and was surprised to see Piper taking his hand, gently lacing their fingers together. _Are you still mad at me?_

Piper shook her head no, and scooted closer. "I wasn't mad," she said.

_Well you certainly weren't happy._

_I was scared. I overreacted._

"Why would you be scared?"

_...Can't you tell?_

"No." He frowned. "You've completely blocked me out of your mind all day long."

_I have?_

Familiar, yet still a little strange, he felt her hand in his hair. "Yeah. It's a little bit more open now, but-"And a thumb over his cheek. "But-" And her weight on his lap, causing him to start. "Piper?"

Deadly serious, she took his face in her hands and tilted his head up so he could look her in the eyes. Half to make sure she wouldn't fall off and half because it was natural to him, he put his hands on her waist, steadying her. "Well, go on in," she said. "It's open now. Feel free to look around."

So he did. Sure enough, he could feel her again. And what he saw inside her mind surprised him and disturbed him. There was an incredibly strong physical attraction for his male form, and a deeply rooted fear that this was somehow a form of infidelity towards Lark as a person. Quivering hesitation and self-doubt, she even wondered if Lark had done this as a way to pressure her into not being so scared to show affection to female Lark in public.

He hadn't meant for her to feel this way at all. "It was just a joke," he said, somehow ashamed and feeling insensitive- of course him swapping genders was going to be jarring to her, why hadn't he seen that sooner? She felt his thoughts and was quick to suppress it and reassure him that she knew he hadn't meant to shock her this way, and that he wasn't at fault.

But it had made her see something.

"I love you," she said. "And I'm going to tell the others about us as soon as you're back to normal." And after a moment of hesitation, "You know... if you _want_ to change back."

Lark laughed. "Why _wouldn't_ I want to change back? Except for being able to freak out Finn, there isn't much fun in being a guy. Oh," he added in a lower tone, leaning in closer. "And I'm actually flattered you find me attractive."

She flinched back a little, averting her eyes. Like an impenetrable steel veil, the connection between them was slammed shut with more force than a bull sky shark at a headbutting contest.

He winced. "Sorry. Too much?"

Letting loose a shivering breath, she closed her eyes. "Y-yeah, too much. Christ it's like-" she struggled for the words. There weren't any. Even transmitting the message mentally came short. It was something neither of them had felt before. In the end, Piper resorted to blowing a loud raspberry.

"That's informative."

"Thanks, I try."

**OoOoOo**

**A/N: EPIC WRITER'S BLOCK IS EPIC. This will now be a four-chapter story while I get my shit together.**


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